[freeroleplay] Open Runequest by Mongoose

[Jerry Stratton]

> Just discovered this news announcement:
>
>  "Perhaps the best news of all is that RuneQuest will be an Open system"
>
> http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/home/runequest.php
>
> Absolutely no idea what they mean by this. They don't seem to mention
> OGL, and they don't say what license they are intending to use.

I went to read the site, and I don't know that they need to be using any
license:

==
Perhaps the best news of all is that RuneQuest will be an Open system,
meaning that publishers and players alike will be free to produce their
own derivative works, using the RuneQuest rules and logo, for publication.
Though Glorantha will not be Open in this fashion, the free-to-use licence
will permit new settings to be written using the RuneQuest rules, as well
as scenarios and rules expansions.
==

1) Publishers and players will be able to use RuneQuest rules. If their
license is about rules, it doesn't matter. Derivative works are about
re-using the text (and images) of a document not about re-using its ideas
(rules).

2) Publishers and players will be able to use RuneQuest logo. That's
trademark, not copyright. It has nothing to do with creating derivative
works.

3) The licence will permit new settings to be written using the RuneQuest
rules; again, unless they're saying that new settings can be written and
copy extensive text from the rulebooks, there's nothing special about
this. Settings can be written using any rules without permission. Using
rules doesn't infringe on copyright (or trademark).

4) The license will permit scenarios. Ditto. This is not something that
needs to be permitted.

5) The license will permit rules expansions. Um, yeah. No longer will we
go to jail for using home rules :*)

If what they're saying is that people will be able to publish the above
while copying text and images extensively from the rulebooks, that's
great. But it sounds to me like they're going to offer a license that
permits players to do what they don't need permission to do: play the game
and create compatible works for playing the game.

Jerry
-- 
http://www.ItIsntMurder.com/
"Give a man a fish, and you've fed him for a day. Teach him to fish, and
you've depleted the lake."--It Isn't Murder If They're Yankees